An “Aching Back” in the Body of Christ

Tag: leadership

Have you ever had a back problem? I have had that unpleasant experience several times in my life. Most often for me it didn’t happen because I lifted some extra heavy piece of furniture or four bundles of shingles rather than three 😊 (I’m lucky if I can pick up one!) No, most often it happens as I bend over to pick up a piece of paper on the floor or carry out some other routine task I do several times a day. But this time I feel the crunch of muscles behaving badly and I know it’s time to start the heat and ice routine as the next several days are not going to be fun.

If you’ve had this “spine tingling” experience you know it’s awful. The thing about it that’s most distressing is that when the pain is at its most debilitating, there is no comfortable position. It seems that every way you shift your body a new shot of pain erupts. Everything within you tightens up to try to protect your back and that only makes it worse.

As I thought about this experience recently, it reminded me of the behavior I sometimes see in churches. Perhaps the congregation has been through a recent conflict. Perhaps they have tried something new that didn’t work out so well. Perhaps they’ve been dealing with the loss of significant givers either because folks have left or because they have died, and for the first time they are facing significant financial difficulties. Perhaps they are just watching their membership decrease year by year and are wondering what the future will hold.

In many of these scenarios the church begins to “seize up.” People become more and more fearful and try to hold on more and more tightly to what isn’t working, hoping it will somehow just get better. It feels like everywhere they turn there is pain. And it is literally paralyzing.

So as we find ourselves in a place like that, how can we − the “Body of Christ” − discover the path to moving more freely in the Spirit when we are “locked up” by fear, dysfunction, or a focus on pain? How can we move beyond ourselves when all we can think about is how much it hurts? So many churches I see are living in this situation.

What is the “ice and heat” that brings healing and hope for a future that is good and filled with promise? What is the treatment that brings curative wholeness? Well, I think it begins when a willingness to risk starts again, as a disposition to trust the Spirit one more time and seek to follow where God is leading begins to sprout. It begins as we choose forgiveness and let go of the stone against another that we’re holding in our hands. It begins as we seek and see a vision for health. For we must believe that we can get well. And we must be willing to do whatever it takes to move towards that place of well-being.

Sadly, sometimes folks see no other option but to lay on the couch languishing in the pain. They don’t dare move for fear the sharp stabbing pain will still be there. I get that. But if we are willing to treat the injury, as we take the steps towards healing, ultimately there comes a time when we need to get up and walk. We need to engage health, or health will forever elude us.

So, if any of this resonates with you in your setting, if with all you’ve tried you still find yourselves stuck on the couch, perhaps it’s time for you, for your church to as Jesus put it “take up your bed and walk.” Who knows what good things await you and your community if you do.

I am taking a few days this week up north doing some planning. I have done this annually for the past several decades. When I was serving in the local church I spent these days doing sermon planning for the year ahead. Now I get ready for Church Conference season and try to take a balcony view of the District and Conference related to my role as Missional Strategist.

This planning time is a week I look forward to every year. I anticipate the opportunity to take these days, step back and look to what’s next. I like it partly because I get to spend a week by a lake and enjoy the beauty of the area around Traverse City. But more than that, it really helps me move beyond the moment and the urgency of the immediate, to both practically plan and dream.

I wanted to write about this time I take away every year because as I talk with pastors I know that some never take time to step back and get a balcony view. They never take time to get away from the regular daily activities to think deeply, to pray, to listen and to breathe. And my encouragement to pastors, and really to all of us, is to take the time.

For pastors, I believe doing some kind of sermon planning retreat is essential. Folks do it in different ways. Some take a week once a year, others take a few days every few months, some work with worship teams and others are on their own. And I’m not suggesting that my way is the best way, but my belief is that we need to do it some way.

Beyond the sermon creators among us, I think all of us need time away. I would invite all of us to consider taking time at least once a year to retreat, to create space to hear from God, to connect with God. If you haven’t had a practice of taking this time in your life, start with a day, start with an afternoon. My suspicion is this time away will become more and more important to you, and something you eagerly anticipate!

Friends there is so much more I could say about this and I’d say more but I’m ready to get back to my time away!

I had lunch with my wife, my son and my daughter in-law yesterday. We ate at a restaurant right by the water. The sky was blue, the temperature was about 78 degrees, the lake was gorgeous and we were together. And to top it all off, the food was wonderful. It was just one of those perfect moments, when all is right with the world.

It wasn’t of course. All was not really right with the world. There were thousands of issues, thousands of problems, hundreds of thousands, millions, billions of people in various states of struggle and stress. But for us, in that moment or that hour, it felt that way.

I am so grateful that Jesus went to banquets. I’m so glad he went to that wedding and turned the water into wine. I think it shows us that even in the midst of dealing with the mess of living in this broken world, even in the midst of seeking to be Jesus’ hands and feet, in the pain and hurt that is all around us, it’s OK to have moments that are rich and perfect – moments that are about living in blessing and joy!

Jesus cared deeply for the poor. Jesus lifted the status of those who had no place in the culture in which he lived. Jesus gave his life so that we might know what it means to live. Jesus was the perfect picture of service. But once in a while he went to parties, he came to banquets, and he enjoyed those perfect days that come along every so often.

I just finished watching again the last episode of one of my all-time favorite TV shows. I have seen it a number of times but every time it grabs me. Every time it brings a tear to my eye. The show is about people with pure motives. It is about high ideals. It is about loving truth and standing on principle and accomplishing good. The show stirs me even though I know the episodes well.

I think story that taps into our emotions like that, story that affects us and touches us to the core of our passion for that which is right and decent, respectable and uplifting, connects us to God, it connects us to Gospel. Whether we realize it or not, whether we acknowledge it or not story, good story, real true story, connects us to God and Gospel.

Art is the same, as it captures us in its magnificence. The beauty of creation is the same as it takes our breath away causing us to simply stand without speech, and marvel at what is before us. It joins us to the wonder of God.

I am not suggesting that these things, story, art, creation, and a host of others we could mention, are God, they are not. But they are all connected to God, they are expressions of God, they are − I dare say − opportunities to experience and encounter God. And all these things remind me that God is so much bigger than the little boxes in which we try to put God.

God is good. God is every good. God is all good. And when we see good, when we experience good, when we live good, it all connects us to God. Yes, God is bigger than the greatest good we have ever seen or experienced, but good is always, in whatever form, an expression of God and a means of grace.

When I finished watching my show this evening, my heart was full. So much turning out right. Even the painful was muted by the characters’ care of one another. And as I watched I was again reminded that I so much want the world to be like that.

You can call me naive and you can call me foolish, you can call me whatever you would like, but I do believe that the vast majority of my mission as a follower of Jesus is to bring good wherever I can. To bring good to my family with the words I use and the way I act. The way I listen and the way I behave. To bring good to my work with simple acts of respect for all people and a movement day by day away from self- centeredness towards humility (I have a significant way to go on all these!). To bring good by standing up for the needs of the few not just the many, to side with those who hold the short end of the stick in virtually every measure of success.

Friends, I want to live out the goodness of God. Like story and art and creation, I want my life to be a reflection of the good God wants the world to see and experience. I want to be, in a world of pain and hurt and violence and injustice…GOOD! I want to live out grace. I have a long way to go, but I believe it’s what I am called to be and where I’m called to go. Anybody want to go with me?

What about me?! What about my side?! What about my team, my people, my perspective, WHAT ABOUT ME!!?

This sentiment gets expressed in so many ways doesn’t it?

It certainly got expressed to my parents as I was growing up when I thought my sisters were getting something I wasn’t. How unfair, unjust it was when they got the larger piece of cake or the extra half hour up before bed time. But of course, like most children, I got that turnabout reality parents often receive when I had to hear those same complaints from my kids when Robin and I made similar decisions affecting them!

I hear similar sentiments now as a Superintendent sometimes when our VCI teams identify the need for churches to focus on outreach and the people who aren’t in the church yet. The response is so often, “what about me! What about my desires and preferences?”

My mind was drawn to this issue this past week as I heard the news reports of the Muslim worshipers targeted by the driver of a car in London. I went there in my head because as I heard the story of the attack, I was reminded of some voices I have heard over the last year both on social media and in other arenas claiming that when the Muslim community is the target, the media and others get all upset and report the tragedy in significant ways, but you “don’t hear anything about Christians who are persecuted.” “What about me”, “What about us” has been a response I have heard from some circles.

Of course the reality is that any persecution is incredibly tragic and painful and so far from what any genuine person of any faith would seek. But as a follower of Christ it seems to me that my last response to another’s pain ought to be “what about me, what about my pain?” As followers of Jesus we are constantly called to put others above ourselves, to see the need of the one we might lift up. So when our response is self-focused, when we constantly clamor for our rights, pointing out how poorly we have been treated in whatever setting or circumstance, it often causes us to miss the opportunity to care for the needs of the other.

Many of Jesus teachings identify clearly our calling to be the ones who don’t look for places where we might have been missed, overlooked, or supposedly discounted. Jesus instead invites us to let go of score keeping and become the servants of all. Oh I know, it’s not easy for us. It takes a real focus and lots of prayer to get there. And I for one have a long way to go. But spending our lives in “what about me” mode is the opposite of the way our faith invites us to live. In fact I think Jesus said something about those who cling to their lives, their “rights,” their privilege, and those who instead give their lives away, giving themselves up on behalf of others. I believe his suggestion is that genuine happiness and purpose come from the latter, and deep loss from the former.

Well, it’s about to begin! I’m writing from Traverse City where we are preparing for Annual Conference. Close to 2000 United Methodist’s from across Michigan will gather to take significant steps on the road to becoming the Michigan Conference.

The Design Team has worked for almost two years now and is bringing nearly two hundred pages of legislation to the Conference. The legislation creates a structure built around the mission of the new Annual Conference to empower Christ Centered Mission and Ministry – Bold Effective Leaders and – Vibrant Congregations. The legislation continues the technical and sometimes legal work of bringing together the present two Conferences into the one new Conference. The Legislation enables us to move into this next year poised to take the steps necessary to be ready for the new thing God is doing in Michigan.

I am excited about this week. I am excited about the worship we will participate in together. I’m excited about the opportunities we will have to learn new things that will help us in our ministries. I’m excited about the opportunity this Conference will provide to meet more new friends from the other side of the state. I’m excited because in the midst of questions and the constant uncertainty of the future, we are seeking to do a new thing.

I spent some time on Facebook following the announcement of the Judicial Council decision regarding the election of Karen Oliveto as a Bishop. I read articles from UMC news agencies and the pastoral letter of our Bishop David Bard. I read the letter from the Council of Bishops and a piece from the New York Times. I especially appreciated the letter of our Bishop and the gracious nature of his words.

In the midst of the Facebook comments about it all there were − of course − a variety of reactions. For some, there was anger at what was viewed as another legalistic response by the church to an individual gifted and loved by God. There were in other comments a sense of hopelessness towards the future. There were others passionately presenting their feelings that the Council had upheld an appropriate standard. There were lots of comments expressing a variety of opinions on these two basic themes.

One comment though stood out for me. It was in a long string of reactions representing all that I shared above and it said this, “Wow, I can’t believe that I belong to the same church as some of these people.”

On one level I understood this completely. When we see people who claim the name we claim and they are acting in ways, holding beliefs that seem to be far from our own, far from our understanding of the “essential” components of our faith, we wonder how we can stay in fellowship and connection with them given their position or perspective. I understand that completely. It is exactly what has gotten us to the 28,000 or so different Christian denominations in the world.

But on another level I don’t get it at all. It’s absolutely counter intuitive to what we know about the Church. There is a reason that Jesus makes such a point of calling us to “love one another.” There’s a reason why Jesus suggests that we might need to forgive one another from time to time! Because the Church is not designed to be a homogenized group of folks who all think alike. In fact the church is full of people who would never get together anywhere else. So on any number of issues around any number of strongly held perspectives, we will differ. That is just a reality, a reality that Jesus understood and anticipated.

But for me, this reality provides for us a great opportunity to be a witness to the world around us. It is an opportunity, especially in these days when our culture is experiencing an incredibly high level of polarization, to provide an example of how we can disagree in very significant ways and still love one another, still focus on the core mission of the Church and find ways to live together in the tension. The Church is not designed to be a place where it’s easy to be community. If it were easy for us to love one another Jesus and the Epistle writers wouldn’t have had to mention it so many times! But since we are called to be that kind of a community, to be that kind of witness, I pray that through “The Commission on a Way Forward,” through conversations and prayer, through the power of God’s Spirit at work in me and you, we will find the grace and power to be the Church − even as we struggle with one another. I invite you to pray to that end.

I won’t be writing a Castings article the next two weeks. My wife Robin and I are going to Mexico next Tuesday for 10 days! On May 7 we will be celebrating 40 years of marriage; I can hardly believe it has been that long. It just seems like yesterday that we were moving our things into married student housing at Eastern Michigan University! I know not everybody has this blessing and God uses each one of our unique situations in ministry for the work God has given, but I have had the awesome gift of a partner in ministry all along the way.

Robin and I met at a “Mid-Winter” District youth retreat on the Lansing District at age 16. I first felt called into ministry at age 17, so we have been in this together all along the way. And Robin has made significant sacrifices along the way in this itinerant system in which we live. Robin is retired now, but she taught Special Education at various levels for 30 years. Because of our 4 local church appointments she received, gave up, and earned once again her tenure − three different times!

In the early days, before computers, Robin typed sermons (sometimes on Saturday night!!). She juggled raising kids, with a husband and father who wasn’t always able to be around in the evening or at critical moments. She has also used her rich gifts for her own ministry serving as District Youth Coordinator on no less than three districts, singing in choirs and bands, and helping cabins full of girls at camp discover the joys and wonder of God’s grace. We have walked the road God has given to us and it has been wonderful.

Now…it hasn’t been perfect. There have been times we have talked with counselors to help us try and sort out issues we struggle with and continue to struggle with. There have been times our temperaments and perspectives have brought us to different places in decision making, but for the most part, it has been a delightful journey. And I am so humbled and thankful for the gift our journey has been and continues to be.

So….I won’t be writing Castings for the next two weeks. I will be hanging out on a beach with my partner in life and in ministry, thinking back over the past 40 years and looking forward to all God has for us all along the way ahead.

I used to talk often as a local church pastor about the need to go through all of Holy Week. Most of our churches or at least our communities have services for Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter. Experiencing each of these days and the worship services that go with them are a “package deal!” My hope is that each of us will take time to be a part of this very special week in the life of our Christian Community.

Each of these days represent for us an important event and, more so, an important aspect of our faith. I hope you are looking forward to each of these services throughout these days. I trust that worship teams, pastors and the whole church body are preparing well to journey though these events together. May God lead us and bless us as we engage this very special time with our whole selves so that we might receive all that God has for us in them.

I read this morning that Sears has put out a statement saying that they have “substantial doubt” that its company’s doors will stay open. Other retail giants that have been main stays all my life, anchor stores in mall across the country, have been closing stores in many locations. They’re not doing anything like the business they did just a few decades ago.

I wonder what folks would have said fifty years ago, if someone had suggested that these giants would close? I suspect there would be a chuckle at the idea. Sears was founded by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck in 1886 for heaven’s sake! It’s been a retail center in cities and towns across America for 130 years. It will always be here would have been the natural assumption.

But then came Amazon.com as well as lots of other .coms. Then came Walmart and Meijer. I looked at my own Amazon account and realized that I made my first purchase from them in 1999 when they were primarily a book company. I had three orders that year. Last year I had 66 orders for everything from Altoids to computer parts, and clothes to vitamins.

There are other factors, I’m sure, that have affected Sears and other companies. But the fact is the world of buying and selling is changing like so many other things in our culture, and some of those institutions that we once thought would always be there, are simply going by the wayside.

And the analogy to the Church is not a hard one to make, is it? The world has changed and it is changing for us too. There are many shifts that we could name. Worship itself is one of them. From the day of the week we offer worship opportunities to the location where we offer them, things are by necessity changing.

By the way there is a BIG worship training event on our District this Saturday with Kim Miller in case you hadn’t heard!!

Giving in the church has changed too. If your congregation doesn’t offer at least automatic withdrawal from a bank account, if not instant giving on a web site; if you are relying only on people writing checks or putting cash in the plate, then you are missing a significant portion of potential givers.

These are just a couple areas where our world is different than it was in the past, and if we don’t pay attention and move with the shifts we may well find ourselves ─ someday soon ─ putting out our own press release indicating our “substantial doubt” related to our ability to keep the doors open. And more importantly to carry out the mission of sharing Christ’s love in a broken and hurting world.